Method of and means for handling



June 20, 1950 c w cox I 2,511,970

111mm 01' AND mus FOR mum stuns Hams med June 21. 1947 X v7//%/fl///////////////////// s E m 1 L n M ./Q. M m w k 0 M. M N\ g N [1A ox! Patented June 20, 1950 METHOD'OF AND MEANS FOR HANDLING STAPLEFIBERS Charles W. Cox, St. Albans, W. Va., assignor. to

American Viscose Corporation, Wilmington,

Del., a corporation oi Delaware I Application June 21, 1947, Serial No.756,261 a 4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved method of and means for preparingbales of staple fibers, and particularly staple fibers ofregenerated'celiulose.

According to the common practice, staple fibers ,oi regeneratedcellulose, subsequent to the usual after-treatments, including finalwashing and drying, are conditioned in moist air so that they pick upabout 7 to 11% by weight of moisture, which is equivalent to theirnormal regain moistture, that is the moisture held by the fibers inequilibrium with the atmosphere at normal temperatures and humidities.Theconditioned fibers, after separation from the conditioning air andventing of the latter to the atmosphere, are then sent to an opener,inwhich they are opened, that is to say any clumps of fibers are brokenup. The opened fibers aresuspended in a stream of dry air introducedirom'an outside sourcefand conveyed in the air stream to the balingpress. The opened fibers constitute a mass oi considerable bulk andoccupy a large area. In order to minimize the dimensions of theequipment required for transferring the opened fibers to the balingpress, they are subjected to compaction, incidental to their separationfrom the carrier air, along their path of travel from the opener to thebaling zone. Commonly, this compaction is efiected by throwing thefibers into a rotating cylinder having wall perforations through whichthe carrier air escapes. The fibers are packed against the inner wall ofthe cylinder. This practice has the disadvantage that a portion of thefibers delivered to the rotating cylinder are trapped around the shaftwhich'projects horizontally through the center of the cylinder, formingstrings or tails of fibers which become soiled and, frequently, oily,from contact with the lubricating oil on the surface of the shaft. Suchstrings or soiled fibers when they are eventually dislodged from theshaft, intermingle with the remaining fibers from which they cannot beseparated. The presence of the strings or tails of soiled fibers in thebales are undesirable, since,

although the tails are opened out during subsequent carding and combingoperations, the soiled fibers are not removed automatically by suchtreatments but persist through the yarn spinning stages, and into thefinished yarn itself, complicating dyeing and other treatments to whichsuch yarn is normally subjected.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of andmeans for preparing bales of staple fibers which are entirely free fromstrings or tails of soiled fibers. Another object is 2. to provide amethod of and means for utilizing the conditioning air separated fromconditioned staple fibers oi regenerated cellulose as a medium iorconveying the fibers, after final opening, from the opener to the balingpress. Another object is to provide very simple and inexpensiveapparatus for rapidly transferring the opened staple fibers from theopener to the baling press, comprising means for automatically andcontinuously separating the fibers from the conveying air and compactingthe fibers, which, separating means does not require power output. Afurther and more specific object is to convey openedfibers ofregenerated cellulose from the opener to a baling press, simultaneouslywith completing their conditioning with respect to retained moisture.

The and other objects of the invention are accomplished by conditioningstaple fibers oi regenerated cellulose in moist air, separating thefibers from the air, delivering the fibers to an opener, diverting theconditioning air separated from the fibers in a stream along apredetermined path, subjecting the fibers. in the opener to suctioncreated by the stream of conditioning air separated from the fibers,whereby the fibers are drawn from the opener into the air stream,directing the stream of air and fibers suspended therein against aperforated surface disposed in thepath of the air and fibers, toseparate the fibers from the air and compact the fibers on the surface,collecting the compacted fibers in a baling press, and baling thefibers.

The attached drawing is illustrative of apparatus for carrying out theinvention, the apparatus being shown diagrammatically.

In the drawing, there is shown a closed conditioning chamber 2 in whichfibers oi regenerated cellulose are exposed to moist air and conditionedto a moisture content of about 7 to 11% by weight, The treated fibers 3are withdrawn at the lower end of chamber 2 on the surface of endlessbelt I and projected through the seal I into the opener 6 which is ofconventional type and equipped with the usual pins for opening andseparating the fiber clumps. The conditioning air is withdrawn at thetop of chamber 2,'by the action of fan I, along a closed path defined bythe conduit 8 which projects into the conduit comprising horizontalportion 9 and vertical portion III to provide a continuous path for theair stream; The lower end of portion III of the conduit communicateswith opener 6. The air stream traveling at high velocity through thecontinuous enclosed passage formed by conduit I and conduit portion 9creates suction in the opener],

so that the opened fibers are sucked upwardly from the opener, throughconduit portion l9, and suspended in the stream of air. The fiberssuspended in the air are projected into a receiving system comprising atriangular shaped upper portion II communicating with a conduit [2 thelower end of which in turn communicates with baling press [3. Suspendedin portion I i of the receiving system, and centrally disposed therein,is a fiat perforated target plate ll which extends across the width ofportion H. The fibers and air are thrown forcefully against the targetplate, the air passing through the perforations and the fibers beingcompacted against the surface of the plate, from which they dropdownwardly through the conduit l2 to the baling press. The fiberscollected in the press are subjected to pressure by means of ahydraulically operated ram, and baled in the usual manner. Screen I5 isfixed across the top of section II of the receiving system to permitescape of the air to the atmosphere.

Means may be provided for conditioning the air withdrawn from chamber 2to insure that it is in equilibrium with the fibers sucked out of opener6, with respect to moisture content. However, in the preferredembodiment, the moist air is not subjected to any drying step prior tosuspension of the opened fibers therein. Since the fibers in chamber 2frequently occur in the form of clumps, and those fibers at the interiorof the clumps may not be sufiiciently exposed to the conditioning air inthe chamber, all of the fibers, after opening of the clumps in opener 6,may not be conditioned uniformly. Advantage is taken of the use of themoist air employed initially in conditioning the fibers as conveyingmedium for the opened fibers, to complete uniform conditioning of allthe fibers simultaneously with their transfer from the opener to thebaling press.

The invention has the advantages that the fibers are transferred fromthe opener to the baling press at a rapid rate under conditions suchthat the bales finally obtained are entirely free of soiled fibers, andall of the fibers are uniformly conditioned.

Modifications and variations may be made in carrying out the inventionwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Method of handling staple fibers which normally retain moisture whenin equilibrium with the atmosphere under ordinary conditions oftemperature and humidity, and subsequent to initial drying thereof,which comprises treating the fibers in a conditioning zone with moistair so that at least a portion of the fibers pick up an amount ofmoisture equivalent to the amount of moisture retained by the fibersunder ordinary temperature and humidity conditions, separating thefibers and conditioning air, projecting the fibers into an opener,directing the conditioning air separated from the fibers in the form ofa stream along a predetermined enclosed path, subjecting the fibers inthe opener to suction created by the stream of air moving along theenclosed path so that the fibers are drawn from the opener into the airstream,

throwing the fibers suspended in the air stream against a perforatedsurface disposed in the path of the air stream whereby to separate theair arid compact the fibers against the surface.

2. Method of claim 1 wherein the fibers are fibers of regeneratedcellulose.

3. Means for handling staple fibers which comprises a closedconditioning chamber for accommodating the fibers and moist conditioningair. means for opening the fibers, means for withdrawing the fibers fromthe conditioning cham-- her and delivering them to the opening means, aconduit connected with the conditioning chamber, another conduitconnected with the firstmentioned conduit and with the opening means,means for withdrawing the conditioning air from the chamber into thefirst-mentioned conduit, the first-mentioned conduit having a dischargeopening inside the second conduit disposed to direct the dischargingstream longitudinally of the second conduit away from the opening meansso that suction is created in the opening means, a perforated surfacedisposed in the path of the air stream adjacent the exit end of theseccud-mentioned conduit, and means belowthc surface for collecting thestaple fibers.

4. Means for handling staple fibers which comprises a closedconditioning chamber for accommodating the fibers and moist conditioningair, means for opening the fibers, an endless surface disposed fortravel between the conditioning chamber and the opening means forconveying the fibers from the chamber to the opening means, a conduitconnected with the conditioning chamber, another conduit connected withthe first-mentioned conduit and with the opening means, means forwithdrawing the conditioningair from the chamber into thefirst-mentioned conduit and directing it in a stream along apredetermined path across the juncture of the first and second conduitswhereby the fibers are drawn from the opening means and conveyed by theconditioning air to the exit end of the secondmentioned conduit, aperforated surface disposed in the path of the air stream adjacent theexit end of the second-mentioned conduit, and means below the perforatedsurface for collecting the staple fibers.

CHARLES W. COX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,533,903 Rylander Apr. 14, 19251,942,868 Mitchell Jan. 9, 1934 2,078,309 Bennett Apr. 27, 19372,401,438 Smith June 4, 1946 2,409,747 Folmer Oct. 22, 1946

